‘Kpop Demon Hunters’ Case Study Anchors Luminate’s APAC Music Insights at All That Matters

At the All That Matters conference in Singapore, Luminate—a leading entertainment data firm—provided a deep dive into the global industry, spotlighting the Netflix animated series "Kpop Demon Hunters" as a standout transmedia success story. Scott Ryan, the company’s Executive Vice President of Commercial, kicked off the session by revealing that worldwide on-demand audio streams climbed by just over 10% in the first half of 2025, hitting a staggering 2.5 trillion streams. Much of this expansion was fueled by listeners outside the United States.

Across the Asia Pacific region, numerous countries—such as India and Indonesia—posted double-digit growth that outpaced the global average. In contrast, Australia and New Zealand exhibited trends more consistent with mature markets. Premium subscription streaming, while still trailing the global average, saw robust gains in Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand. Japan alone now represents nearly one-third of all premium streams in the region. India remains heavily reliant on ad-supported listening, with 85% of its streams coming from that category—a sign of substantial untapped potential for subscription services. “Asia Pacific’s premium streams grew overall by 15% plus,” Ryan observed, naming South Korea and Japan as the regional leaders.

On the global stage, South Korea, Australia, and Japan each maintained their spots among the top 10 music-exporting nations. Thailand, however, climbed three positions year-over-year—a surge partly attributed to the cultural impact of "The White Lotus" season three, which amplified international streams for Thai artists like Blackpink’s Lisa and the veteran rock band Carabao. Ryan also emphasized the ongoing relevance of music-rights valuation, noting that verified streaming data continues to serve as a critical benchmark for financing mechanisms such as catalog acquisitions, private credit, and asset-backed structures. These models are creating fresh funding avenues for everyone from indie artists to superstar catalogs.

The "Kpop Demon Hunters" case study powerfully illustrated the reach of transmedia storytelling. Over two-thirds of the soundtrack’s on-demand audio streams originated outside the U.S., with the Asia Pacific and North America regions contributing the largest shares. Netflix—the streaming giant behind global hits like "Squid Game" and "Stranger Things"—released the series in multiple dubbed languages, including Korean, Japanese, Mandarin, and Tagalog, to enhance its regional resonance. New Spanish and French versions of the hit track “Golden” have each surpassed 5 million global streams since their debut. The show has also drawn a younger, more female-leaning audience compared to traditional anime, revealing the crossover appeal between K-pop and animation. Industry analyst Dr. Elena Park remarked, “This fusion of music and visual storytelling is reshaping how global fandoms form and engage with content.”

Luminate’s analysis underscores several major shifts: audiences are increasingly engaging with content across multiple platforms, premium subscription adoption and music export strength are rising in Asia Pacific, financing models linked to streaming data are diversifying, and cross-promotion between television, film, and music is unlocking new demographic segments and discovery pathways. Luminate, a subsidiary of PMC—the parent company of the entertainment trade publication Variety—continues to provide the industry with critical data insights.